The asymmetric three-qubit W-class state $|\overline{W_3^L}\rangle$ defines an isosceles entanglement-network geometry, (a) two vertex-base (VB) links form stronger bipartite connections, (b) while the base-base (BB) link is weaker. This suggests that concentrating entanglement into a super-link may be advantageous for quantum-network tasks. Here, we show that this intuition is incomplete. We analytically compare the bipartite concurrence dynamics of the symmetric |W> state and the asymmetric $|\overline{W_3^L}\rangle$ state, which differ both in entanglement-network geometry and excitation sector under standard noise models. In the absence of noise, the concurrence hierarchy is C_{VB} > C_W > C_{BB}$. Under phase damping, this hierarchy is preserved for all noise strengths and no entanglement sudden death occurs. Under amplitude damping, however, the hierarchy is reordered. The symmetric |W> state becomes the most robust, while the base-base concurrence of $|\overline{W_3^L}\rangle$ vanishes at the finite threshold of parameter $γ$. We term this reordering as the \textit{Super-Link Fragility Effect}. The same structural asymmetry that produces a stronger vertex-base link also makes it more vulnerable to energy dissipation when coupled with multi-excitation amplitudes. Under depolarization, the asymmetry advantage is erased, with $C_W$ and $C_{VB}$ sharing the same sudden-death threshold for some value of the parameter p, while $C_{BB}$ disappears earlier at some other value of the parameter p. The generalized amplitude damping channel continuously connects the damping-dominated regime to the pure-excitation limit, where the initial hierarchy is restored. These results show that entanglement robustness in $W$-class resources is controlled not by initial concurrence alone, but by the joint structure of entanglement-network geometry, excitation sector, and noise symmetry.
The asymmetric three-qubit W-class state ∣W3L⟩ defines an isosceles entanglement-network geometry, (a) two vertex-base (VB) links form stronger bipartite connections, (b) while the base-base (BB) link is weaker. This suggests that concentrating entanglement into a super-link may be advantageous for quantum-network tasks. Here, we show that this intuition is incomplete. We analytically compare the bipartite concurrence dynamics of the symmetric |W> state and the asymmetric ∣W3L⟩ state, which differ both in entanglement-network geometry and excitation sector under standard noise models. In the absence of noise, the concurrence hierarchy is C_{VB} > C_W > C_{BB}.Underphasedamping,thishierarchyispreservedforallnoisestrengthsandnoentanglementsuddendeathoccurs.Underamplitudedamping,however,thehierarchyisreordered.Thesymmetric∣W>statebecomesthemostrobust,whilethebase−baseconcurrenceof|\overline{W_3^L}\ranglevanishesatthefinitethresholdofparameterγ.WetermthisreorderingastheSuper-Link Fragility Effect.Thesamestructuralasymmetrythatproducesastrongervertex−baselinkalsomakesitmorevulnerabletoenergydissipationwhencoupledwithmulti−excitationamplitudes.Underdepolarization,theasymmetryadvantageiserased,withC_WandC_{VB}sharingthesamesudden−deaththresholdforsomevalueoftheparameterp,whileC_{BB}disappearsearlieratsomeothervalueoftheparameterp.Thegeneralizedamplitudedampingchannelcontinuouslyconnectsthedamping−dominatedregimetothepure−excitationlimit,wheretheinitialhierarchyisrestored.TheseresultsshowthatentanglementrobustnessinW$-class resources is controlled not by initial concurrence alone, but by the joint structure of entanglement-network geometry, excitation sector, and noise symmetry.
Geometry versus excitation sector in the decoherence of asymmetric N-qubit W states
We investigate how network geometry and excitation sector separately control pairwise entanglement decay in asymmetric multipartite W states. To disentangle these effects, we introduce an analytically tractable N-qubit generalization of the asymmetric Lohmayer geometry and its complementary-excitation partner, yielding inequivalent vertex-base (VB) and base-base (BB) pair classes that can be compared directly with symmetric W-state references. We derive closed-form concurrence dynamics under representative one-sided noise models and find that, within either excitation sector, the VB concurrence has exactly the same noise dependence as the corresponding symmetric reference, preserving a noise-independent proportional advantage wherever both remain entangled. The amplitude-damping reordering previously identified for the three-qubit Lohmayer state is therefore a cross-sector effect rather than an intrinsic fragility of the VB geometry. In contrast, the BB pair exhibits a genuine same-sector structural fragility, with lower entanglement-sudden-death thresholds than the VB pair under depolarizing noise and, in the (N−1)-excitation sector, under amplitude damping. The results establish network geometry, excitation sector, and noise symmetry as distinct ingredients governing pairwise entanglement robustness in asymmetric quantum networks.
We systematically characterize quantum entanglement in all sixteen combinations of two-qubit Bell states across three operational regimes: pure superposition, noiseless mixing, and asymmetric mixing of one noisy and one pure Bell state. For pure superpositions, we calculate the von Neumann entropy and show that entanglement depends critically on the relative phase phi between superposed states. For mixed states, we use concurrence C under three physically motivated decoherence channels. The Depolarizing (DP) and Phase Damping (PD) channels are modeled as global, collective operations on the two-qubit Hilbert space, while Amplitude Damping (AD) is treated as independent local decay on each qubit, reflecting the asymmetric, energy-dissipating nature of spontaneous emission. A central and counterintuitive result is that increasing noise can raise concurrence in specific parameter regimes across all three channels. We further map the boundary between mathematical entanglement (C > 0) and operational quantum non-locality using the Horodecki criterion, finding this boundary to be strongly channel-dependent. Under Phase Damping, the Bell-local entanglement regime vanishes entirely for identical and same-bases mixtures, meaning any surviving entanglement guarantees a CHSH violation. Under Depolarizing noise, a large Bell-local region requires mixing probability r > 1/sqrt(2) to recover non-locality at maximum noise. For Amplitude Damping, certain mixtures exhibit a non-monotonic Horodecki parameter M(T): concurrence decreases monotonically with noise, yet the capacity for CHSH violation is lost at intermediate noise levels and restored at high noise, as maximal damping repurifies the noisy branch. These results provide a unified analytical reference for entanglement and non-locality management across Bell-state combinations and decoherence channels relevant to NISQ architectures.
In this paper, we study entanglement dynamics of a two-qubit extended Werner-like state locally interacting with independent noisy channels, i.e., amplitude damping, phase damping, and depolarizing channels. We show that the purity of initial entangled state has direct impacts on the entanglement robustness in each noisy channel. That is, if the initial entangled state is prepared in mixed instead of pure form, the state may exhibit entanglement sudden death (ESD) and/or be decreased for the critical probability at which the entanglement disappear.
The entanglement behavior for different classes of two-qubit systems passing through a generalized amplitude damping channel is discussed. The phenomena of sudden single and double changes and the sudden death of entanglement are reported for identical and nonidentical noise. It is shown that, for less entangled states, these phenomena appear for small values of channel strength. The effect of the channel can be frozen for these classes as one increases the channel strength. Maximum entangled states are more fragile than partial entangled states, where the entanglement decays very fast. However, one cannot freeze the effect of the noise channel for systems initially prepared in maximum entangled states. The decay rate of entanglement for systems affected by nonidentical noise is much larger than that affected by identical noise.
In distributed quantum computing, quantum networks provide a potential infrastructure for long-range quantum information processing. Controlled quantum teleportation (CQT) is a key practically relevant protocol that can connect two parties on a network and enables a third party, the controller to allow or abort the secure teleportation of an arbitrary single-qubit state between the two parties. We investigate the robustness of a three-qubit GHZ resource under bit-flip, phase-flip, depolarizing, and amplitude-damping noise. Using the Kraus-operator formalism, we characterize the noisy resource through multipartite quantum discord, genuine multipartite concurrence (GMC), localizable entanglement (LE), and CQT fidelity. We also outline a proof-of-concept photonic implementation for preparing the three-qubit GHZ resource and realizing the CQT protocol, which could enable experimental investigation of the effects of noise. Our results show that bit-flip and amplitude-damping noise generally preserve useful mutipartite quantum correlations over broader noise parameter ranges. Interestingly, multipartite discord exhibits freezing under bit-flip noise over a finite parameter regime. Moreover, discord can persist beyond the sudden death of genuine multipartite entanglement, revealing the distinct robustness of nonclassical correlations. We further demonstrate that CQT fidelity which characterizes the performance of CQT can exceed the classical threshold even after GMC vanishes, while LE more closely reflects the operational usefulness of the noisy resource. These findings highlight the complementary roles of quantum correlations and entanglement in assessing the resilience of GHZ-based protocols.
Decoherence due to the unwanted interaction between a quantum system and environment leads to the degradation of quantum coherence. In particular, for an entangled state, decoherence makes a loss of entanglement and Bell nonlocality known as entanglement sudden death (ESD), and Bell nonlocality sudden death (BNSD). Here, we theoretically investigate the entanglement and Bell nonlocality of a bipartite entangled state under three types of decoherence, amplitude damping, phase damping, and depolarizing. Our result provides the bound of decoherence strength that does not lose the entanglement and Bell nonlocality. In addition, we find two interesting features. One is that the entanglement can survive even though one of the entangled qubits is affected by a large strength of decoherence if the other qubit is affected by a small enough strength of decoherence except for the depolarizing. The second one is that when a specific form of entangled state is under amplitude damping, the Bell nonlocality shows an asymmetric behavior respect to the decoherence strengths on each qubit. Our work provides comprehensive information on ESD and BNSD for the bipartite entangled state which will be useful to implement quantum information processing in the presence of decoherence.